As of August 2025, the average annual price of Brent crude oil stood at 71.3 U.S. dollars per barrel. This is over nine U.S. dollars lower than the 2024 average. Brent is the world's leading price benchmark for Atlantic basin crude oils. Crude oil is one of the most closely observed commodity prices as it influences costs across all stages of the production process and consequently alters the price of consumer goods as well. What determines crude oil benchmarks? In the past decade, crude oil prices have been especially volatile. Their inherent inelasticity regarding short-term changes in demand and supply means that oil prices are erratic by nature. However, since the 2009 financial crisis, many commercial developments have greatly contributed to price volatility, such as economic growth by BRIC countries like China and India, and the advent of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in the U.S. The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war are examples of geopolitical events dictating prices. Light crude oils - Brent and WTI Brent Crude is considered a classification of sweet light crude oil and acts as a benchmark price for oil around the world. It is considered a sweet light crude oil due to its low sulfur content and low density and may be easily refined into gasoline. This oil originates in the North Sea and comprises several different oil blends, including Brent Blend and Ekofisk crude. Often, this crude oil is refined in Northwest Europe. Another sweet light oil often referenced alongside UK Brent is West Texas Intermediate (WTI). WTI oil prices amounted to 76.55 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2024.

Crude Oil Price: Average International FOB: Indian Basket: INR data was reported at 4,249.140 INR/Barrel in 05 Dec 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4,324.140 INR/Barrel for 04 Dec 2018. Crude Oil Price: Average International FOB: Indian Basket: INR data is updated daily, averaging 4,308.560 INR/Barrel from Jan 2012 (Median) to 05 Dec 2018, with 1683 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7,752.020 INR/Barrel in 28 Aug 2013 and a record low of 1,633.490 INR/Barrel in 20 Jan 2016. Crude Oil Price: Average International FOB: Indian Basket: INR data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Energy Sector – Table IN.RBJ001: Crude Oil Price: Average International FOB.

The 2025 annual OPEC basket price stood at ***** U.S. dollars per barrel as of August. This would be lower than the 2024 average, which amounted to ***** U.S. dollars. The abbreviation OPEC stands for Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and includes Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates. The aim of the OPEC is to coordinate the oil policies of its member states. It was founded in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq. The OPEC Reference Basket The OPEC crude oil price is defined by the price of the so-called OPEC (Reference) basket. This basket is an average of prices of the various petroleum blends that are produced by the OPEC members. Some of these oil blends are, for example: Saharan Blend from Algeria, Basra Light from Iraq, Arab Light from Saudi Arabia, BCF 17 from Venezuela, et cetera. By increasing and decreasing its oil production, OPEC tries to keep the price between a given maxima and minima. Benchmark crude oil The OPEC basket is one of the most important benchmarks for crude oil prices worldwide. Other significant benchmarks are UK Brent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), and Dubai Crude (Fateh). Because there are many types and grades of oil, such benchmarks are indispensable for referencing them on the global oil market. The 2025 fall in prices was the result of weakened demand outlooks exacerbated by extensive U.S. trade tariffs.

Index Time Series for ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil. The frequency of the observation is daily. Moving average series are also typically included. The fund seeks to meet its investment objective by investing, under normal market conditions, in any one of, or combinations of, Financial Instruments (including swap agreements, futures contracts, forward contracts, and option contracts) based on WTI sweet, light crude oil. It will not invest directly in oil.

Content

This series was created by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to expand the history of the monthly West Texas Intermediate oil price series in FRED. We simply combined these two FRED series: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/OILPRICE and https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MCOILWTICO. From January 1946 through July 2013, the series used is OILPRICE. From August 2013 to present, the series used is MCOILWTICO.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the St. Louis Fed organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

• Observation Start: 1946-01-01

• Observation End : 2019-11-01

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Himesh Kumar Behera on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Graph and download economic data for Spot Oil Price: West Texas Intermediate (DISCONTINUED) (OILPRICE) from Jan 1946 to Jul 2013 about west, WTI, intermediate, oil, commodities, price, and USA.

Brent fell to 63.05 USD/Bbl on December 2, 2025, down 0.19% from the previous day. Over the past month, Brent's price has fallen 2.84%, and is down 14.36% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Brent crude oil - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on December of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Spot Crude Oil Price: West Texas Intermediate (WTI) (WTISPLC) from Jan 1946 to Oct 2025 about WTI, crude, oil, price, and USA.

After some fluctuation in the oil industry's early years, where prices were incredibly high for that time period due to low supply, the cost of oil in the U.S. remained below five U.S. dollars per barrel in the century between the 1870s and 1970s. Due to the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Arab OPEC states then placed an embargo on Israel's allies, particularly the United States, which resulted in domestic prices almost doubling within two years. Less than a decade later, due to the Iranian Revolution, domestic prices in the U.S. more than tripled between 1978 and 1981. Domestic prices in the U.S. were very subject to those within the OPEC bloc, as OPEC-produced oil was often much cheaper than U.S. oil even after duties and transport fees were applied. U.S. production then fell from the 1980s to the 2010s, and high production costs were then passed on to consumers. Prices peaked between 2008 and 2013, at around 95 dollars per barrel, before the developments in unconventional oil industries, such as shale oil refinement, fracking, and horizontal mining, have seen prices fluctuate in recent years

Australia Commodity Price Index: Weights: Other Resources: Crude Oil data was reported at 7.300 % in Feb 2013. This stayed constant from the previous number of 7.300 % for Jan 2013. Australia Commodity Price Index: Weights: Other Resources: Crude Oil data is updated monthly, averaging 7.300 % from Feb 2008 (Median) to Feb 2013, with 61 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.300 % in Feb 2013 and a record low of 5.300 % in Aug 2009. Australia Commodity Price Index: Weights: Other Resources: Crude Oil data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Reserve Bank of Australia. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.I051: Commodity Price Index: Weights (Old).

Germany Commodity Price: Energy Resources: WTI Crude Oil data was reported at 59.417 USD/Barrel in 01 Dec 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 59.384 USD/Barrel for 28 Nov 2025. Germany Commodity Price: Energy Resources: WTI Crude Oil data is updated daily, averaging 57.984 USD/Barrel from Jan 2013 (Median) to 01 Dec 2025, with 3275 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 124.851 USD/Barrel in 08 Mar 2022 and a record low of 10.145 USD/Barrel in 21 Apr 2020. Germany Commodity Price: Energy Resources: WTI Crude Oil data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Deutsche Börse Group. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Germany – Table DE.P: Commodity Prices. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

Here is an overview of historical crude oil prices by month from 2010 to 2013. This brief overview highlights the fluctuations and trends in crude oil prices over time, influenced by geopolitical events, economic factors, and supply and demand dynamics.

This study investigates the impact of oil price uncertainty (OPU) on corporate profitability in China, the world’s largest crude oil consumer. Most importantly, we examine how the Chinese government’s oil price reform affects this relationship. Using the yearly data of Chinese-listed companies, we find that the uncertainty of oil prices negatively affects corporate profitability but positively impacts operating expenses from 2007 to 2020. This finding holds after robust tests, including alternative profitability metrics and endogeneity model. Most interestingly, implementing the 2013 market-oriented oil pricing reform amplifies the adverse impact of OPU on corporate profitability owing to increased operating costs in the post-2013 period. Moreover, the detrimental effect of uncertain oil prices on corporate profitability is less prominent for large-capitalized companies. This research adds to the body of knowledge on the factors affecting corporate profitability by highlighting the volatility effect of oil prices and government pricing mechanisms. The results offer grounds for legislators and corporate managers to consider how to control the uncertainty surrounding oil price matters to ensure stable corporate profitability.

In the third quarter of 2024, the price of fuel oil for power producers in the United Kingdom amounted to 572.76 British pounds per metric ton, a considerable decrease compared to the same quarter in the previous year. Figures reached the record low of 223.13 British pounds per metric ton in the first quarter of 2016.

China Import Price: Crude Oil: Asia: Hong Kong data was reported at 864.270 USD/Ton in Dec 2013. China Import Price: Crude Oil: Asia: Hong Kong data is updated monthly, averaging 864.270 USD/Ton from Dec 2013 (Median) to Dec 2013, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 864.270 USD/Ton in Dec 2013 and a record low of 864.270 USD/Ton in Dec 2013. China Import Price: Crude Oil: Asia: Hong Kong data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by CEIC Data. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Price – Table CN.PH: Crude Oil Import and Export Price.

Index Time Series for WisdomTree WTI Crude Oil - GBP Daily Hedged. The frequency of the observation is daily. Moving average series are also typically included. NA

Context

Abstract of associated article: This paper contributes to the debate on the role of oil prices in predicting stock returns. The novelty of the paper is that it considers monthly time-series historical data that span over 150years (1859:10–2013:12) and applies a predictive regression model that accommodates three salient features of the data, namely, a persistent and endogenous oil price, and model heteroscedasticity. Three key findings are unraveled: first, oil price predicts US stock returns. Second, in-sample evidence is corroborated by out-sample evidence of predictability. Third, both positive and negative oil price changes are important predictors of US stock returns, with negative changes relatively more important. Our results are robust to the use of different estimators and choice of in-sample periods.

Acknowledgements

Narayan, Paresh K. (2016), “Data for: Has oil price predicted stock returns for over a century? ”, Mendeley Data, V1, doi: 10.17632/7s446mxhyv.1

License - CC by NC 3.0

Index Time Series for WisdomTree Brent Crude Oil 1x Daily Short. The frequency of the observation is daily. Moving average series are also typically included. NA

In August 2025, the price for one barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil averaged 64.86 U.S. dollars. This was a slight increase compared to the previous month, although prices remained lower than they had been the previous year. WTI and other benchmark crudes WTI is also known as "Texas light sweet", and is a grade of crude oil used as a benchmark for oil produced in the United States. It has an API gravity of around 39.6 and specific gravity of about 0.827, which, relative to other crude oils, is considered “light,” hence the name. WTI also contains about 0.24 percent sulfur, making it a “sweet” crude oil. The price of WTI can be compared to the prices other of crude oils, i.e. UK Brent, the OPEC basket, and Dubai Fateh oil. WTI crude oil is the underlying commodity of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s oil futures contracts. U.S. oil production and its influence on light oil prices The price development of WTI crude oil relative to Brent crude oil has been influenced by variances in U.S. crude oil transportation and increased U.S. oil production. New transportation infrastructure became operational in early 2013, easing the movement of crude oil in the mid-continent and raising the price of WTI. Since then, U.S. refineries have increased production of crude oil to record levels, also raising the price of WTI. Meanwhile, expedited crude transport in the U.S. put downward pressure on Brent crude oil as domestic crude replaced some imported Brent crude. Between 2014 and 2016, UK Brent prices dropped rapidly, as was the case for all other crude oils.

The average spot price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil came to 76.63 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2024, a decrease of nearly one U.S. dollars compared to the previous year. The 2024 average spot price for Brent crude oil was 80.52 U.S. dollars. Both Brent and WTI are light crude oils, with the first used as a benchmark for gasoline prices around the world. Spot prices vs. future prices Spot prices refer to current market prices under which a commodity such as one barrel of crude oil may be bought for immediate delivery. In contrast, future prices refer to settlement and delivery at a later date. As a major refinery and storage hub, Cushing in Oklahoma is the delivery location for WTI traded via the New York Mercantile Exchange. When storage capacities threatened to reach their maximum capacity in April 2020, the WTI oil price crashed as a result, trading at record low prices. The WTI oil price fell into negative numbers for the first time in its history, closing out at negative 37.63 U.S. dollars per barrel on April 20th. The lowest value for Brent prices was 19.33 U.S. dollars per barrel. Influences on oil prices Oil prices are volatile commodities as their trading and delivery is heavily influenced by overall market development and geopolitical events. For example, the Russia-Ukraine war and resulting Russian sanctions brought about fears of supply bottlenecks, which pushed oil prices to decade-highs also reflected in the 2022 annual average.